Dorney Park adds extreme thrill show with bikers, skaters and a scooter rider

Saturday

Jul 13, 2013 at 9:15 PMJul 13, 2013 at 9:19 PM

KATHY LAUER-WILLIAMS

The newest thrill at Dorney Park isn't a ride.

The park has added an extreme thrill show that combines somersaulting bikes, back-flipping gymnasts and an aerialist who performs high above the stage.

Add a throbbing soundtrack and light show and you have All Wheel Sports, the show pulling in crowds at Dorney's Good Time Theatre this summer.

Some of the extreme athletes were part of the All Wheel Sports team that last year made it to the semifinals of NBC 's " America's Got Talent."

The choreographed trick bikes and gymnastics that amazed judges on the seventh season of the reality show now is wowing families at the South Whitehall amusement park.

The show has replaced the Snoopy-themed ice skating shows that had filled the stage since the $6 million Good Time Theatre opened in 2009.

Six days a week, spectators watch BMX bikers, an inline skater and a scooter-rider perform flips over each other's heads; hardcore gymnasts literally run up walls and make trampoline-assisted leaps over platforms; and two female acrobats who perform on a floor trampoline and suspended in the air.

The action is non-stop, with gymnasts flipping in the air usually before bikers are done with their tricks. At one point, there are performers on all areas of the stage doing acrobatics, flipping and spinning simultaneously.

The Dorney Park show is one of three by All Wheel Sports at Cedar Fair parks this summer. Each show is cast separately and includes several original members of the troupe, founded in 1995.

Unlike the outdoor shows at other Cedar Fair parks, Dorney's show is performed inside the 18,000-square-foot, 600-seat theater.

The performers say this show is more intense because it's indoors.

After less than a week of shows, the athletes are already nursing injuries, including a sprained ankle and stitches.

"This is the most technical and tight and most dangerous stage we've ever done," says BMX biker Scott Twiford, an Easton native who was a member of the group that performed on "America's Got Talent."

"It's very dangerous," Drew Fouarge, a gymnast from California, says as he checks a bandage that protects a stitched-up cut on his hand.

He called the show "controlled chaos." Fouarge says that after he cut his hand, fans asked him how long he was out of the show. He told them "two numbers."

The cast also includes Tara Quinn, a contortionist and acrobat from Scranton; Wake Schepman, an inline skater from Hunlock Creek, Luzerne County; Jeremy VanSchoonhoven, a biker from Oregon who appeared on "America's Got Talent" but as a solo act and not with the group; Capron Funk, a Californian who rides a Razor scooter; Lisa Kapchinske, a tumbler from New York City; Dave Mahoney and Tim Oliver, BMX riders, and gymnast Dakota Jay of Las Vegas.

The stage includes trampolines at the rear where gymnasts flip up onto and over a platform, trampolines at the front of the stage, and two half-pipes in the center that BMX bikers, an inline skater and scooter rider use to fly high into the air.

In front of the stage, just feet from the audience, are platforms where bikers set off on jaw-dropping jumps. The auditorium becomes part of the set when a biker comes down the aisle steps.

Jill Transki directed the group that competed on "America's Got Talent," and she's the director, choreographer and producer for the Dorney show.

"There are so many special effects with the Dorney Park show that we couldn't do in other shows," Transki says. "This can go even further beyond the sports element to show a more theatrical side."

The show includes fog effects, flashing lights and a soundtrack that includes "Harlem Shake" and "Gangnam Style."

A highlight is when the lights are turned off and performers flip in the dark, with lights on their equipment creating an interesting visual effect.

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